This is a fairly quick explanation on how to add some texture to your vector images (or raster images) in Photoshop. I’ll go over a couple of methods that I use, and explain how to use them.

We’ll start with a really simple box that I drew in Illustrator. Like I stated before, you can apply this to any image or drawing, but the tutorial is based on this vector image that I created in Illustrator. I created each object on a separate layer (this is very important) and exported the file from Illustrator to Photoshop preserving the layers.

There are two separate methods that I like to use to add texture, Clipping Paths and Masks. Generally I used Clipping Paths when I’m adding texture to the whole layer, and Masks when I’m selectively painting on texture with brushes. This is not a hard and fast rule, and you can certainly use either method to apply texture to your image, but I’ll base this tutorial on the reasoning listed above.

I’m using a scan of a piece of canson paper I have as a texture for my Clipping Path method. I scanned in the paper and converted it to Grayscale (Image>Mode>Grayscale).

I drag the scan into my drawing using the move tool (V). If your scan is too large, you can scale it down using free transform; with the layer selected Cmd/Ctrl+T and scale the texture down to the desired size.

I drag the scan in the layers panel above the layer I want to add texture to. Then I hold down the alt/option key and hover over the line between two layers. You should see a little symbol that looks like two overlapping circles with a triangle next to them like this:

releasing the mouse will clip the texture to the shape of the object on the layer beneath it. (see photo below) In order to add texture to the image rather than just covering that face of the box, I’ll change the blending mode to multiply or overlay (play around with layer styles, you may find one you like better.) As a general rule, multiply will darken the darker parts of the texture image and let the color of the image below show through, while overlay will lighten the lighter parts of the image - so use your own judgement.

I’ve used multiply. Notice that the texture now has a little arrow to the left of the preview icon, indicating it is part of a clipping mask with the layer beneath it.

The second method of adding texture to an image is by using masks. In the image above I’ve created a new layer and used a custom brush that I downloaded from misprintedtype.com but you can use any brush you like, or make your own. I’ve chosen a middle gray, because I’m going to be using a multiply layer style on the layer like I did above, and I find middle grays work better than black because they allow some of the underlying color to show through. You’ll also notice that the brush marks are all over the place. This is fine because we’re going to be masking out the areas we don’t want the texture.

I’m going to select the layer that we want to put the texture on and cmd/ctrl+click the icon of that layer. Cmd/ctrl+clicking makes a selection of whatever is on that layer. Because we only have the front face of the box, it makes a perfect selection of that face. I then click on the layer that I put the brush marks on, and click the layer mask icon at the bottom of the layers panel. (The mask icon looks like a box with a circle in it.) Since we had the area we wanted to preserve already selected, clicking the layer mask icon masks out all areas. Then I change the layer blending mode to overlay, and I’ve added texture to my image.

Since the texture layer has a mask on it, if I want to remove some of the texture displayed, I can always click on the mask icon, and paint in black on the mask to mask out other parts of the texture. (In the example image below I added an “X” to the mask, removing the texture from that area.)

I can continue using these same methods to add texture as I see fit, creating a more finished image like the one below (and at the beginning of this post.) I’ve also drawn in a shadow and some other elements to make the image slightly more realistic. This is a very simple example, but these techniques can be used to make more complicated and interesting illustrations.